National Student Survey Reminder

The National Student Survey closes on Wednesday 30th April.

If there's anyone who hasn't yet taken part in the survey then I urge them to do so. The NSS is an independent survey which seeks to determine directly from final year students how well they rate the quality of their Higher Education experience.

You can access the survey here. It takes no more than 10 mins to complete/

http://www.thestudentsurvey.com

 

Vehicle Access to Bedford Campus

As part of the programme of works on the Bedford campus normal vehicular access to the campus, adjacent to the library building, will be closed from 31^st March to 21^st  to the 22^nd April inclusive. 

Access during this time will be via the current exit road and this has been widened to accommodate two way traffic.  Please take extra special care when driving on site during this period.  Pedestrian access will only be slightly affected and any new routes clearly marked.

Refererencing articles in DISCOVER

If you're confused about how to reference articles found with DISCOVER, here's a little reminder.

If an article is available in full text online, then it's an electronic journal and should be referenced in the following way:

• Author's name(s) 
• Year published (inround brackets)
• Title of article 'in single quotation marks'
• Title of journal (in italics, Title Case)
• Volume number, (Issue number), page numbers
• Name of electronic journal supplier (in italics)
• [Online]
• Available at: URL of electronic journal supplier
• (Accessed: day month year)

Example:

Axford, N. (2010) 'Is social exclusion a useful concept in children's services?' British Journal of Social Work, 40(3), pp. 237-754 SocINDEX with Full Text [Online]. Available at: http://0.search.ebscohost.com.brum.beds.ac.uk (Accessed: 26 March 2014)

You can find out which database an article is from by looking at the Database entry at the bottom of the abstract.

http://0-search.ebscohost.com.brum.beds.ac.uk

http://0-search.ebscohost.com.brum.beds.ac.uk

http://0-search.ebscohost.com.brum.beds.ac.uk

New Ofsted Report Says The Extent Of Child Neglect Is "Not Understood"

A new report by Ofsted claims that local authorities are not doing enoguh to protect children from neglect.

The report Child Neglect: The Scandal That Never Breaks states that figures suggest that most children know another child suffering from neglect. The Ofsted inspectors found "inconsistent approaches" to assessing neglect, and conclude that children are being left for too long in harmful situations in nearly half of the long-term cases they examined.

The report also recommends that social work training is improved to increase professional understanding of the impact of neglect on children's lives.

You can read more about this report and its findings on the BBC News website here.

How to find out if an article has been peer-reviewed

Peer-reviewed articles will have been scrutinised by a panel of academic researchers and assessed for quality. Only if they they are considered to be of a high enough standard will they be published. This means that peer-reviewed materials have the greatest authority.

You can find out if a source has been peer-reviewed in the following ways:

• If searching with DISCOVER tick the box for "peer-reviewed". This is on the Advanced Search page. You must tick the peer-reviewed box before you press search, then all your results will come from peer-reviewed material.
• If you're using a print journal check out the "Instructions for Contributor's" page - usually at the front or back of the journal. It should tell you if the journal is peer-reviewed.
• Go to the journal's home page. You can easily find this by typing its name into nay search engine. The "About" section should tell you if the journal is peer-reviewed.
• Ask your librarian! If you're not sure remember you can always drop me an email with the details at sally.fensome@beds.ac.uk

New Website Launched For Children With Mental Health Issues

The Department of Health has funded a new website MindEd to raise awareness of children with mental health issues.

Experts have warned that thousands of children and young people may be "slipping through the net" because adults do not recognse the warning signs of mental health problems.

A surveyof 21,000 adults backed by groups including the Royal College of Paeditrics and Child Health revealed that a third were unsure of signs of depression in children.

More than 850,000 children in the UK have a mental health problem. Possible warning signs include:

• Loss of appetite / weight loss
• Waking early
• Excessive boredom
• Poor concentration

You can read more on this story on the BBC News website here.

The Difference Between Academic & Non-Academic Materials

It's vital to understand the difference between those materials which are "academic" and those which are not. So here's a reminder for everyone.

Academic materials are written by academic researchers, usually attached to universities. These people are considered to be experts in what they are writing about and their views and opinions have authority. Using them in your assignments will give authority to your work and will help you to get better grades.

The most authoritative materials of all are those which have been peer-reviewed. This means that the material is first scutinised by a panel of academic researchers who will assess it for quality. Only if they consider it of a suitable standard will they allow it to be published.

The most usual sources of academic material are:

• Journals
• Books
• Conference proceedings
• Research reports
• Postgraduate dissertations & theses

All of the above can be found by using DISCOVER. Be sure to tick the box for "peer-reviewed" if you want to find only peer-reviewed materials.

Non-academic materials are not written by academic researchers and the authors may not be experts in what they are writing about. The work is unlikely to be researched in depth and does not have the same authority as the academic sources. Relying only on non-academic sources for assignments means that your work does not have authority and you are unlikely to get a very good grade.

Some of the most examples of non-academic materials include:

• Newspapers
• Magazines
• DVDs
• TV & radio programmes
• Websites
• Youtube videos

Linking to articles in DISCOVER

Last week a student came to see me who was panicking. She had searched DISCOVER and found some vital articles for her assignment but had then simply copied the URL at the top of each page into a Word document. When she tried clicking on the link to retrieve her articles she couldn't find them.

To avoid this happening to you I would recommend setting up a personal account with DISCOVER and saving any useful articles that you find. This is really easy to do:

1. Go to DISCOVER.
2. Click on Sign In (top right of the screen).
3. Click on Create a new account on the Sign in to my EBSCOhost page.
4. Fill in the form (make a note of the username and password you choose).
5. Click the Save Changes button.

You've now created your own account with DISCOVER and can save any articles you add to the Folder so they'll be waiting for you next time you sign in.

International Women's Day

Saturday 8th March 2014 was International Women's Day. In celebration, Routledge have put together a free to access collection of articles from a wide range of journals. 
 
This year's IWD theme is 'Inspiring Change'. To reflect this, this campaign is split into four collections that celebrate the social, political and economic achievements of women internationally: 
 
- Women and Politics
- Women and Development
- Women, Work and Business
- Inspirational Women 

You can access the free articles here: http://bit.ly/1ictaaY